(this is over 500 words, however im still going to feature it)
She admired the rain. The way it left glistening lines along everything it touched. The gentle patter as it hit the cold earth. Feeling the droplets on her face, her hair sticking to the back of her neck; she couldnt think of anything better. Standing tbere, water gathering in her eyelashes and running off the end of her nose, a feeling of serenity washed over her. She lived the way that the rain cleansed everything. It brought back life, a period of rejuvenation to break the long continuous heat. It brought alo g with it a feel g of starting over, washing away previous sins.
She inhaled deeply, breathing in the thickness of the air and fighting back the urge to sneeze. Ah yes, the consequences of standing still in the rain for so long.
The old oak tree that stood a top of the hill just outside of town was a safe space. For the towns children, elderly and anyone inbetween. An old rope swing hung from a lower branch, swaying in a slow eerie way in the wind of the storm.
She shouldn't be here, she knew that. With the growing strength of the storm, she knew that she should be inside or even in one of the towns underground shelters. But her broken glasses that lay in her palm, stained with blood that was her own, brought her to the safe space of the tree, tucked into the low branches. The usual serenity that the rain brought her couldn't override the sorrow in her chest, that threatened to spill into ever crack of her existence. She tasted despair on her lips, along with the salt of tears she hadn't been aware she was crying.
Her grip tightened on the glasses, the broken shards of glass pressing into her palms with a dull sting. Blood painted her pale hands but it wasnt a sight she wasn't familiar with.
It was all so sudden. As she felt her hands become wet with blood and rain, she teetered off the edge and suddenly she was falling.
Falling to the ground, to her knees in the wet grass. Falling into a darkness she was both familiar and unfamiliar with, one she welcomed as an old friend yet ran from.
The glistening lines that ran down her face were not drops of rain, they were drops of the sadness she had been keeping in for so long. They were the product of her struggles and her strength. They were the pieces of herself that she had been so desperate to keep together, holding them together with the hope of a better future.
'Do you hear me?' she thought, raising her clenched fists to her chest.
"Why can't you see me?!" she screamed, the words scratching at her throat like rusted needles. The turmoil that raged in the cage of her ribs surged forward, throwing her to the ground.
And she cried. Raw cries of anguish, of fury, of sadness and desperation. Of yearning, for happiness and light. Of hope for the darkness that had such a tight grip on her mind to loosen. She cried for the life she has missed to the nights she spent locked in her room, for the life she had lost when she drew lines on her self with the pain of her heart.
The roaring storm was deafening, but she could no longer hear anything. Her bones were cold, and her whole body ached with the lashes of the wind and rain. The old oak tree provided cover from the full force of the miserable weather but not enough to protect her from the consequences of it.
She heard a voice. Through the screams of the storm, a voice - a human voice. Her head was heavy with the weight of her soaked hair but still she raised it, searching around her. Her head ached as her eyes strained through the blurr, the she remembered the broken glasses in her hands.
The voice called again, and through the mist a figure hurtled forward, breaking through the low hanging leaves of the tree she resided beneath.
The storm rose inside her as it did around her as recognition flodded through her as the figure reached her.
Through her sobs she heard his voice. Her eyes met with his, but before she could find the words his arms were around her. In the wet mud beneath the oak tree he cradled her as she cried, her silent scream turning into one of sound, it brought tears to his own eyes until he too cried, squeezing g her with everything he had.
"it's ok baby," he breathed, resting his lips against the top of her head, his fingers tangled in her hair as he held her with such a force she felt as though he was trying to mould her into him. "i'm here".
She pulled away, her tear filled eyes searching for his face, the softness of his eyes. His hair was a mass of damp tangles and his eyes were red with tears.
For what felt like forever they stayed, looking into each others eyes, the raging storm around them threatening to drown them.
She was completely unprepared for the moment his lips met hers.
They had kissed before. Kisses on the lips, forehead, cheeks. But none had ever been this desperate, this filled with passion and fire and love. He tasted like salt and the stars, filling her lungs with galaxies of her own. He breathed life and flower petals into her, a clash of tongue and teeth. His hands twisted into her hair and cupped the back of her neck, pressing her into him as if she were his life line. The kiss was slippery with tears and rain but held the heat of a thousand fires. She fought for air, but for those few moments he was her air.
Whe he pulled away her hands reached up to clasp behind his neck. Their foreheads rested against each other, swearing despite the storm that raged around them.
"come home," he begged, lifting her head so he could look directly into her eyes.
For the first time in what felt like months, a gentle smile crept to her lips, and she whispered-
"i already am"
